The Vacuuming Must Go On

I took the Wild Orange to the pediatrician, yesterday, because she has two very swollen lymph nodes behind her left ear.  I figured she was fighting infection from the flea bites, and the doctor thought so, too: not necessarily from bacteria transmitted directly from fleas, but from bacteria entering Clementine's many scratched-open bites.  The pediatrician I saw was very gentle and understanding; her body chemistry, like Clementine's, is such that bugs are drawn to her, and her skin, like Clementine's, blisters when she's been bitten.  She prescribed an oral antibiotic for Clementine to take for ten days, also an antiobiotic ointment for bites after the ten-day period.  I left CVS with the two prescriptions, Claritin Chewables; generic Benadryl, an Itch Eraser, and a giant can of generic OFF!: all for Clementine. 

Jim and I added up our flea-related expenses, tonight; so far, they total $523, counting neither gas nor the impending bill from the pediatrician. 

The exterminator made a follow-up visit, today.  The babies and I left the house shortly after 9 AM, this morning, and returned around 1:30 PM.  We were in the house for less than 15 minutes before I picked a flea off my leg.  We saw a total of two live fleas today and (including these two) have seen a total of six live fleas since Sunday, when we set foggers off in our house.  But even one flea can do a lot of damage when it comes to Clementine; the one that leapt from her pants, that day, left a ring of thirty bites around her left ankle.

I am exhausted from battling fleas.

Tonight, I pulled the Wild Orange from the bathtub and into a hooded towel in my lap.  I looked at her and said, "Clementine, Mommy is going to pray over you, for your flea bites."

She said, "Ok, Mommy," leaned her head against my chest, and--for the entire length of my prayer--sat still and silent as I prayed for her healing and protection.  It was one thing I hadn't done: pray aloud while holding her. 

And now I need to close down this computer and get some rest, as, tomorrow, the vacuuming must go on.  Thank you for the prayers you're offering up, on our behalf.  The Lord is working in our hearts, lives, family, and home, and I would trade this for nothing: even an absence of fleas.